Games which utilize a base supporting a plurality of capsules which are periodically opened are well known and have proven to be extremely popular in the toy industry. As a result, capsule opening type games have been provided in a variety of designs and themes ranging from opening flowers with interacting "honey bees" to aquatic themes utilizing fishing activity as well as various target or projectile launching themes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,860 issued to Wey sets forth a TOY OF HONEY GATHERING BEE having a turning plate in which flowers may be raised up to open or lowered to close as the plate turns. A magnetic honey gathering bee is suspended from a string and supports a magnet. A plurality of magnetic simulated elements are supported within each flower with the object being to successfully gather the magnetic elements from the flowers as they open.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,199 issued to Bush, et al. sets forth a GAME having a game piece suspended on a string simulating a bee which is dangled by a player over a simulated flower which opens and closes and which contains items to be withdrawn from the flower without entrapping the bee in the closing action of the flower.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,750 issued to Shimizu sets forth an OCTOPUS CATCHING GAME KIT having octopus-shaped bodies each including a built-in magnet which are set in a number of receptacles on a playing surface. Each octopus-shaped body rises out of its receptacle at a particular time interval and may be caught by players properly manipulating a magnetized catching pot suspended on a string from a fishing rod.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 270,458 issued to Samuels sets forth a BALL GAME BOARD having a center base supporting a plurality of dolphins which in turn have opening mouths and which are the target of projectiles launched toward the center piece.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,819 issued to Chen sets forth a DOLL CATCHING TOY having a base supporting a rotating disk. The disk supports a plurality of openable shell-like capsules which periodically open as the disk is rotated. An article such as a doll is captivated within each of the capsules and is retrievable by a fishing pole and magnet manipulated by the player.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,309 issued to Takeshi sets forth a MEMORY MATCHING GAME WITH MECHANICALLY ACTIVATED ROTATING DISK including a base, a rotatable disk mounted on the base and a cover mounted on the base above the disk. A clutch mechanism is provided for rotating the disk and a braking mechanism is provided for stopping rotation of the disk in one of a plurality of predetermined positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,914 issued to Matsumoto sets forth a GAME STRUCTURE EMPLOYING A REVOLVING TARGET having a cruciform-shaped base supporting a rotating receptacle at its center. The lid of the receptacle is pivotally mounted and is periodically opened by a cam and cam follower structure as it moves.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,640 issued to Barlow and U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,249 also issued to Barlow set forth mechanically actuated turntable target games.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,163,426 issued to Ruderian and U.S. Pat. No. 3,195,896 issued to Markham set forth early examples of rotatable game apparatus.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have provided some improvement in the art and have in some instances enjoyed commercial success, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for evermore new and innovative game apparatus using periodically or sequentially open capsules.